Warriors: A Broken Tale
by elderhawk
Summary: A dark time is coming to Frostclan. The darkness that stalks the clan goes by the name of Fuzzybunny. In this dark comedy Frostclan has its share of problems. Can these misfit cats discover the source of the evil that stalks them before it is too late?
1. Chapter 1

Warriors – A Broken Tale

Chapter 1

_It was very dark. _And this was because it was night time. Fluffybunny was having the dream again. In the dream she was standing on the high-rock looking over the cats gathered around her. The cats below were chanting, "Fuzzybunny!" "Fuzzybunny!" over and over again.

Fuzzybunny cleared her throat.

"Ahem. Cats of FrostClan, thank you for being here tonight," she squeeked modestly. "We have come through dark times. There have been many trials and much suffering. But we will not dwell on that tonight. Tonight is a night when we put aside our rivalries, put aside our ambitions and our concerns and turn our eyes to a new dawn. That dawn is coming when mice will be plentiful and greenleaf will be long. When the prey will be fat and the moss beds will be soft. And tonight marks the end of rivalry and the beginning of prey leaping from your paws into your mouths because you have chosen me as your leader," she purred.

"Liar!" came a ragged screech from a wretched cat haunched on a bolder at the edge of the clearing. Gasps arose from the gathered cats. "Liar!" the cat screeched again. "You must not let this cat become your leader. She will destroy you. She will bring destruction to the clan and in the end will make you nothing more than slaves and servants to her ambition.

"I... I..." Fuzzybunny stammered.

"If you choose such an evil cat as your leader the days of the clan will be numbered. By leafbare you will be nothing but loners and rogues."

"How can you say that?" protested Fuzzybunny. "That really hurts my feelings!"

But before she could protest further she was drowned out by a herd of cats bounding up the rocks, swarming over her in a sea of paws and teeth.

Fuzzybunny awoke with a start. Her white pelt was glistening with sweat. Her lungs heaved inside of her. She didn't know what frightened her more, that she would ever be accused of bringing about the destruction of the clan or that she could feel the sweet seduction of the dark red flower of ambition blossoming in her heart.

"Good morning, Fuzzbun." "Good _morning_, Fuzzbun!" It was Flamefoot and Icefoot, twins, except for their paws. They always went everywhere together and some said they had a _special _bond that only twins share, but other cats thought they were just a little weird. They liked to play practical jokes and everyone pretended that they were completely fooled by Icefoot pretending to be Flamefoot or Flamefoot pretending to be Icefoot. But in reality all anyone ever had to do was look down at their paws. Icefoot had white paws and Flamefoot had golden paws, but that didn't stop the two boy wonders from faithfully practicing their synchronized moves. They would walk side-by-side, marching in step. Or they would pretend the other one was a mirror and carefully move their heads unison.

"Good morning Flamefoot, Icefoot." Fuzzybunny nodded in their direction on her way to the fresh-kill pile, which wasn't much of a pile this early.

"Today we're gong to get to show Blacktooth some really cool moves," enthused Flamefoot.

"Really cool," repeated Icefoot.

"We developed one called the _bludger_," continued Flamefoot. "Because we use our twin powers to confuse our enemy."

"They think they are fighting one of us, when whammo! here comes the _other_ one of us!"

"Whammo!" echoed Icefoot.

"OK. Go get 'em, tiger!" Fuzzybunny cheerfully squealed before pivoting on her paws, making a direct line towards the fresh-kill. Flamefoot and Icefoot leaped up and down batting each other's ears as they disappeared over the rise towards the training area. "Okaaay," muttered Fuzzybunny to herself as she surveyed the mouse and sparrow. She stared, somehow expecting the choices in front of her to improve.

Fuzzybunny gulped down the mouse as Elderberrypaw came by. "Sparrow," harrumphed Elderberrypaw. "And they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

"You want to go hunting?" mewed Fuzzybunny as Elderberrypaw made short work of the sparrow, feathers flying.

"Sure," he replied. "Be good to get out before some old cat asks me change their bedding."

"Let's go down by the rushing creek. Maybe some juicy water-voles there." As they padded down towards the creek Fuzzybunny could feel the gentle breezes of greenleaf. It has been a hard leafbare, but now the woods had woken up and were settling into a rhythm of cool nights with days warm and full. By the edge of the water a ribbon of deep green was flecked by yellow buttercups.

Fuzzybunny opened his jaws to scent the air. The tang of mouse and water-vole made his stomach rumble.

"Shhhh..., you'll scare all the prey from here to high-rock," she teased. Elderberrypaw dropped to a crouch his tail indicating she should stand back while he crept up on his prey. With a swift leap he landed on an unsuspecting vole and bit down on its neck. He raised his head in obvious delight. Scurrying up the slope he meowed, "Your turn."

Fuzzybunny pranced down to the water's edge. No sense in getting wet paws. She turned up towards the tree line and scrambled past some boulders. She spotted her prey, not yet aware of its fate. She circled back and sniffed the air. Dipping her head she indicated a large squirrel nervously edging around a wide oak. "Follow me," she motioned to Elderberrypaw . "Let's get this one together." Each maneuvered to a different side of the oak and then sprang up the trunk, closing in on the startled squirrel. Blinded by the thrill of the hunt Elderberrypaw leaped higher and higher. Suddenly Elderberrypaw realized he and Fuzzybunny were perilously high. "What happened to our squirrel?" he panted.

"Maybe it was a _flying_ squirrel," she said stonily. A simple shove and Elderberrypaw seemed to be swimming through the air while Fuzzybunny looked at him falling away from her. "How odd," she mewed to herself and then lightly leaped from branch to branch as if nothing had happened.


	2. Chapter 2

Warriors – A Broken Tale

Chapter 2

Fuzzybunny bolted into FrostClan camp.

"Where is Magentafoot? Something terrible has happened to Elderberrypaw!"

Magentafoot, FrostClan's medicine cat, and Birchstar came running out of Birchstar's den. "What's going on?" demanded Birchstar.

"Something terrible has happened to Elderberrypaw. We were hunting by the creek and ... Oh its _awful_!" _s_he wailed.

"Blacktooth, Sneezewhisker, go with Magentafoot. Fuzzybunny take the team to where Elderberrypaw is."

The four cats raced from camp with Fuzzybunny in the lead. When they got to Elderberrypaw's limp form it looked like he was sleeping but Magentafoot knew the signs of a myocardial infarction as well as any medicine cat. She paused for a moment and looked at the small still form of Elderberrypaw. "He was so _young_..." She looked up at the high branches above.

"We were chasing squirrels. He must have – fallen," said Fuzzybunny, almost to herself.

Magentafoot turned to speak to Blacktooth and Sneezewhisker, "Let's get him back to camp."

"We'll hold a vigil for him there," Blacktooth mewed.

Together the FrostClan warriors and medicine cat raised Elderberrypaw's body. Back at camp they laid him at the edge of camp.

Birchstar climbed upon the high-rock. "Tonight Sneezewhisker will sit vigil. He has lost his apprentice, and for that we all grieve. It is a tragic day for the clan to lose one so young as Elderberrypaw. Tragic beyond words..."

"Does StarClan hate us?" whispered Songkit, at the back of the gathered cats, quietly to Hedgehogkit, while Birchstar went on about Elderberrypaw's untimely death.

"Because they let Elderberrypaw die? Hedgehot kit whispered.

"Do you think StarClan has abandoned us?"intoned Songkit again. "Don't you think Elderberrypaw would still be alive if StarClan hadn't turned its back on him?"queried Songkit.

"Maybe StarClan doesn't hate our whole clan," said Hedgehogkit, "maybe they only had something against Elderberrypaw."

"I hadn't thought of that," mewed Songkit.

"If it was just Elderberrypaw that they had something against," Hedgehotkit went on, "then that should be it. It begins and ends with him."

"But..." Songkit interjected.

"But if more bad stuff happens, then we know it's not just Elderberrypaw they had a problem with, but the clan!"

"What do we do then?" Songkit asked.

"It this clan is cursed by StarClan then we should leave," whispered Hedgehogkit.

"... and then there was the this other time that Elderberrypaw -- well I digress. The vigil starts at sunfset." Birchstar hopped down from the high-rock and went into her den followed a few moments later by Magentafoot.

Inside the den, Birchstar was sitting with her back to the entrance, eyes unfixed and gazing at the dark shadows on the back wall.

"Come in, Magentafoot," mewed Birchstar tiredly.

"Birchstar, it wasn't the fall that killed him." Said Magentafoot in a low voice. "He died of a heart attack before he hit the ground. This was no ordinary fall."


End file.
